filmed but not forgotten score/music
Saturday, March 31, 2007 at 10:10AM i have heard it said that you shouldn't notice a film's score. i disagree completely and am a big fan of movie music. sure you can notice a bad score, but you can also notice a great one. this brings us to this weeks list: fbnf score/music
there were only two rules i had for this list:
1) it wasn't nominated for an oscar
2) it is original music composed for the film (therefor if a soundtrack of songs is on the list then they had to have been written for the movie and not just be a collection of good songs like in say, Almost Famous or Forrest Gump or The Commitments. etc...)
let the listing begin.....
11) She's The One - tom petty and the heartbreakers
10) Who Framed Roger Rabbit - alan silvestri
9) Truman Show - burkhard dallwitz/phillip glass
8) Rushmore - mark motherersbaugh
7) James Bond - monty norman/john barry
6) Team America: world police - harry gregson-williams/marc shaiman/trey parker
5) Batman - danny elfman
4) Psycho - bernard herrmann
3) The Last Temptation Of Christ - peter gabriel
2) Crimson Tide - hans zimmer
1) The Good, The Bad and The Ugly - ennio morricone
Reader Comments (2)
First of few comments on Jesses' 6-10:
11) She's The One ... Love Tom Petty but never got around to seeing this one.
10) Who Framed Roger Rabbit - I'm not sure why but, I've never really liked Alan Silvestri. "Back to the Future" was okay and Roger Rabbit is a nice ode to classic Warner Brothers but the rest of his stuff always seemed to be "Williams" light.
9) Truman Show - This score never really stood out to me but I really liked the piece that was played on the podcast.
8) Rushmore - mark motherersbaugh - Pure brillance...see below
7) James Bond - Great song though seems like it has to be kinda a cheat somehow.
6) Team America: world police - I recently watched "Rocky Balboa" and totally started laughing during the Montage. That song is brilliant! My favorite part is "..always fade out at the end of a montage..."
Okay my top 12:
To me a score/soundtrack needs to be a cohesive piece that adds something the picture. It can't just be random songs or generic orchestration. Tarantino and Anderson may use old music but they do so brilliantly. To the point where old songs are now overwhelmingly connected to the movie. Take "Stuck in the Middle With You" or the opening credits of "Pulp Fiction" for example. That being said I tried really hard to stick to the rules. (Though I'm sure I failed)
12. "Return of the Living Dead" - various artists - What a great collection of songs that totally thrive in the vibe of this movie. I have no idea which ones were original but even the instrumentals blended perfectly together to give a great sonic texture to this tongue in cheek movie.
11. Risky Business - Tangerine Dream - It sounds a bit dated now but at the time the score to this movie was sooooo different from anything out there. It really added a dream texture to the entire piece.
10. Cannibal! The Musical - Trey Parker, Rich Sanders - "Let's build a Snowman" is the hardest I've laughed during a movie in a long long time. I love these songs. One of my favorites wasn't even in the movie. It was used in the trailer and turns a Homicidal Killers screams into the artistic stylings of James Brown.
9. Raising Arizona - Okay so some of the music is not original but the way it's recreated is sooooo original this has to make my list.
8. Run Lola Run - This is a great example of a soundtrack that totally adds to movie. These songs do not stand up well on there own but in the context of the movie are sublime. and yes "What a Difference a Day Makes" can't count but again whenever I hear it I can only think of this fantastic film.
7. Team America - See above ^
6. O' Brother Where 'Art Though - So alot of this is classic bluegrass tunes but what T. Bone Burnett pulled off with it really added to the movie and any soundtrack that can single handidly kick off a musical genre's revival deserves a home on my list.
5. The Graduate - Simon & Garfunkel - How can this have not earned an academy award? 7 nominations and nothing for song?!? WOW! The musical elements have been so imitated and payed homage to it's unbelieveable. A real case where the audio can elivate the visual to a whole new level.
4. Kill Bill - The RZA - This main theme ranks right up there with Superman, Raiders and Star Wars as one of the absoulute get up and take on the world best!
3. Rushmore - Again the song choices make this movie an absolute delight. The rules say we can't use old songs so with that being said we can still salute Mark Motherersbaugh. Like Danny Elfman this former member of Devo brings a whole new level to film scoring. Jingle Bells and Tom Tom Drums at the same time.....Yet it works!
2. Nightmare Before Christmas - Danny Elfman - What's This?....First "The Graduate" and now this! These songs are as magical as any song Randy Newman has ever written!ACADEMY WHERE'S THE LOVE?!?
1. Batman - Danny Elfman Okay so I've got a lot of Elfman but the fact is he's brillant. The opening theme played on high quality headphones is unbelievable! He also does great commentaries on Pee-Wee's Big Adventure as well as "Planets of the Apes".
I wanted to include some of Hanz Zimmer's best but he kept getting nominated.
you might see some from your list on my top five (maybe, maybe not) - but there were a couple of yours that made me slap myself for forgetting
1) Run Lola Run - great call: this is one of my favorite films of all-ftiggin'-time and i never even thought about it while making my list
2) when you said RZA i immediately thought Ghost Dog - now i am not sure if the music was written specifically for the movie or not, but it is really good
then of course there is O Brother Where Art Thou - i listen to that soundtrack a lot, but as you acknowledged, the songs are not original to the movie so it couldn't go on my list
i did say the James Bond thing might be a bit of a cheat - but i'm sticking with it